Youth group Sinag Kabataan demonstrated last week that satellite internet service could end the relative isolation of far-flung areas in the province of Catanduanes, with a Starlink device successfully tested in the hinterland barangay of Dugui Too in Virac.
Using his own Starlink kit purchased from Starlink Internet Services Philippines. Inc., Sinag President Fred Benedict T. Gianan, accompanied by Leojames Gianan, traveled to the biggest of the three mountainous Dugui villages to try out the device.
Following a meeting with Mayor Samuel Laynes, they were accompanied by personnel of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) to the barangay last Thursday morning, March 16, 2023.
At the grounds of the Dugui Too Elementary School, Punong Barangay Demcint Beo, together with teachers, barangay officials and residents, saw how the device was easily set up and configured to receive the internet signal from Starlink’s satellites in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO).
Within minutes, the Starlink device was able to reach a speed of more than 200 Mbps, the rate at which it is able to pull data from the Internet.
With 17 devices connected in the Dugui Too test, it managed to deliver a speed of 152 Mbps, allowing the village chief to converse with Mayor Laynes in his office at the población in a problem-free video call on Messenger.
At the municipal hall, the local chief executive said he is seriously considering the acquisition of the Starlink devices for use in the three Dugui barangays as well as five coastal villages which do not have access to the internet.
It may be recalled that in August 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic, Fred Benedict Gianan posted on Facebook that while education is the priority of the government, 12 of the 315 barangays in Catanduanes were isolated as far as internet availability is concerned.
“Madalas kailangan pang umakyat ng bundok or tumambay sa gilid ng highway,” he pointed out, citing posts of pupils and students accessing signals wherever they were available.
He pushed forward as a solution the installation of satellite internet devices in barangay halls as they can be used not only in online learning but also during disaster response particularly during typhoons which often cut off residents of far-flung barangays.
“The total cost may reach millions but education and disaster response are invaluable for the people of Catanduanes,” Gianan stressed, saying that the solution is long overdue.
At the time, he expressed belief that members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and other government agencies would be able to attend to the issue of lack of internet coverage in many areas of the island.
It was Provincial Board Member Robert Fernandez who picked up Gianan’s idea, with the provincial board unanimously approving the PBM’s resolution calling on the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to establish satellite internet access in far-flung barangays without internet connection in the province of Catanduanes.
In the measure, the former Panganiban mayor said that satellite internet access is an alternative solution in situations during typhoons where all land-based communication services are often shut down.
In 2021, Elon Musk’s Starlink was forecast to provide Philippine coverage the following year, with the VSAT kit costing P24,300 and a monthly fee of P4,800 per month in return for a download speed of 134.7 Megabits per second.
In contrast, its competitors at the time offered kits ranging from P72,500 to P93,500 and monthly fee of P5,000 to P7,000 for a speed of just 8 Mbps to 35 Mbps.
Following Starlink’s launch last month, DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said the government will shoulder the cost of deploying and connecting far-flung communities via Starlink.
He disclosed that the agency is working with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to identify GIDAs or geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas where the satellite internet service will be deployed.
Uy said the government can shoulder the cost of Starlink internet services in far-flung areas “until such time there is an economic upliftment in the communities.”
Using the advanced satellites in a low orbit, the agency said Starlink will enable video calls, online gaming, streaming, and other high data activities that historically have not been possible with satellite internet.
In the Dugui Too test, Sinag Kabataan oriented the Starlink dish to the north, as only the northern part of the country is covered by the network of satellites.
From the tripod-mounted flat dish set up in an area with no overhead obstructions for a clear field of view, the signal is carried via cable to the WiFi router connected to a power supply.
As much as 128 devices can be connected to the router, which broadcasts the broadband signal to a radius of about 12 meters.
Using the Starlink app installed on a mobile device, the subscriber can customize settings including passwords, receive updates, access Support, and see real time performance data like download speed, latency, and uptime.
Starlink is already registered with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which allows the company to directly access satellite systems and build and operate broadband facilities providing internet service.